“I just kinda like all people. I know their gifts. I know their grace. All people are good company. Even the rich have redeeming qualities. All of you! Come have supper. Welcome! Come eat and drink and chat and let’s know each other to the bone. We are one.”~ Jesus’ words as imagined by Carolyn Chute in her book; The Beans of Egypt, Maine

When all are invited to dine at the table of Jesus Christ, how then could I deny sustenance to any other man and claim that he is not the equal of myself? Carolyn Chute, in the epilogue of The Beans of Egypt, Maine, envisions the words and sentiments of Jesus before he was the Christ; when he was merely a man who saw the good in every other man’s heart. It takes a strong and loving heart to recognize the beautiful spirit residing in each person. This is not a skill that comes naturally, or without great struggle, to most of us.

The question of inherent goodness, value, and even worth to society has long been pondered by troubled minds. Our ego-minds tell us that we have accomplished certain things, or that our looks are more pleasing than our neighbors, or that we have inherited by birth certain privileges that others do not hold.

To hear the voice of the ego-mind is to be human but to overcome the voice of the ego-mind and see the true divinity in all men is to be divine yourself.

In the Buddhist faith of Soka Gakai, there is a belief that all of mankind has the nature of the Buddha within them and that each person is as wholly without flaw, and spiritually pure as the Buddha himself. Many other religions recognize and speak of the perfect soul residing within each human.

The Hindu expression “Namaste” which is becoming a popular greeting for both “spiritual” and mainstream people literally translates to “we honor the God in the person that we meet.” If we are all fundamentally, and fully, god-like, why is it our natural state to be blinded to this quality in others? And, if our souls hold the knowledge of the divine within the carnate around us, why is it so difficult to remember?Perhaps it is not the successful realization of the sanctity of those around us, but the earnest struggle to do so that is the real goal of our journeys here on earth. Is this the reason that God placed all of our lovely and transcendent souls in these awkward and lumpy wrappers that we call bodies; in order to heighten the challenge and thereby to make the victory even sweeter? It may well be that the victory does not lie in a prescient knowledge of divinity but our struggle to find it around us and to live the lines that Ms. Chute wrote for Jesus,

“Welcome!
Come eat and drink and chat and let’s know each other to the bone.
We are one.”

Teresa York is the Co-Host of Holistically Curious which is a bi-monthly podcast. In her journey for a whole and healthy life, she has drawn from her experiences traveling around the world, as well as from the amazing people she has met along the way. In a quest to enhance her own knowledge of the world around her, Teresa has obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies (mainly Literature and Humanities) and attended The University of Metaphysical Sciences. Because life is full of little surprises, she is also a Third Degree Blackbelt in Tang Soo Do.

Transitioning from a city mouse to a country mouse, Teresa recently moved to a rural town in Maine where she lives happily with her husband, 4 dogs, and a cat. She misses the community of light-seekers which seemed readily available among the larger population of her previous home but she is inspired by pure spirits, wherever she finds them, and happily she finds them in the most unlikely places.

To find out more about Teresa York and the Holistically Curious podcast click here.